The Equestrian Anathema
by Jake the Drake
Summary: When Christmas fights ravage on, a water jug is spiked, and a new kid is claimed, Percy is in serious trouble. Annabeth and Nathan must track down the son of Hermes and make him hand over the cure to Percy's burden. DISCONTINUED due to enormous Writer's Block, which lead to author's loss of interest.
1. Ch1 Merry Christmas

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan does. I only own Nathan Boone.)**

**Note: I am reworking the chapters via reviews so I can make them better and not at warp-speed where I'm the sloppiest. Reviewing will help me correct my mistakes I usually have a habit of making. Flaming will probably make it worse. I'm also trying to stay in-character and not too much Percabeth where it gets really annoying and clichè. I don't know if you consider this fanfic a clichè, but the storyline is a bit different where no one else would come up with the idea. To make it simple, I prefer constructive critisism (e.g. tips, compliments, ect.) to help improve my writing. Thanks.**

**By the way, I won't be able to check my e-mail for messages due to the fact that my computer is almost infected by the Conficker virus that almost took out the Pentagon. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

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**December 14, 2009**

**Percy's POV**

It's been a few months after the defeat of Kronos and Typhon, but I still have nightmares about it. I guess I was the prophecy kid after all I've been through to thwart Kronos's plan to dominant the gods. He tried stealing Zeus's master lightning bolt, use the Golden Fleece, possessing Luke, and corrupt Morpheus, god of dreams, by forcing him to create massive hallucinations that almost drove Malcolm, Annabeth's half brother, to insanity. Luckily, Dionysus was there to get his lazy butt off his pinochle chair and help save him.

Speaking of Annabeth, I saved her from being gutted in the back by Kronos's scythe, Backbiter. She kept forgiving me about all the problems we had after that. She even asked me out to the movies one more time to see James Cameron's movie called Avatar. Not the Avatar: The Last Airbender, but something totally different and full of science-fiction.

We never talked about Luke, considering she still had lingering feelings toward him even after he was controlled by Kronos. He was sliced into pieces again while Nico disposed of the contents in the River Styx and Thalia electricuted them to where it floated to the deepest part of the Underworld: Tartarus. Too bad Luke didn't change his ways when Nico informed me that he was being burned, boiled in acid, and frozen in liquid nitrogen.

In other news, Grover married Juniper. It was supposed to be a Greek traditional wedding until a son of Hermes named Jason spiked the punch which almost made everyone drunk. Until Mr. D intervened, the guy (not Travis or Connor, which is weird)from the Hermes cabin had stolen Mr. D's sacred stash of Jack Daniel's and poured it in the punch while everyone else was attending the wedding. At least I wasn't thirsty at the time.

Anyways, back to me. After the victory over the Second Titan War that lasted a miraculously short five days, and the last day was my sixteenth birthday. I turned the tide of the war and prayed to Zeus to snatch the Ophiotaurus's entrails out of my hands and it almost worked until a Laistrygonian notched an arrow and sent the eagle to the fires of the sacrificing brazier. Then a golden light radiated out of the brazier and Kronos/Luke was partially incinerated. I snatched Backbiter out of his hands and beheaded him.

Right now, I was heading back to Camp Half-Blood over Christmas Break. Some people at camp now call me the Prince of the Sea, which was a lot better sounding than Kelp Head and Seaweed Brain, though Annabeth still calls me that when I'm being an idiot... which I am most of the time.

My mom dropped me off at the base of Half-Blood Hill. Camp had an inch of snow on the ground and the temperature was dipping below twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit (don't judge me, I'm American). Luckily I brought my red winter coat to keep me from turning into an icicle.

I'd reached the cabin area where torches were blazing different colors and glanced at the Athena cabin. _No sign of Annabeth,_ I thought. _She's probably at archery class._ Then I stepped into the Poseidon cabin and started unpacking my suitcase. There was an unexpected knock on the door.

**Annabeth's POV**

Seaweed Brain must be here by now. Footprints in the snow indicated proof of it, no doubt. Unless that kid from the Hermes cabin that spiked the punch at Grover's wedding was savaging Percy's cabin. I stood shivering in the snow, my gloved hands tucked in my winter coat pockets and my feet shuffled nervously. Adjusting my scarf and earmuffs, the door opened.

"Merry Christmas," I tried to sound upbeat, but right now I wasn't in the mood. A new camper arrived just yesterday and he's been extremely distant from everyone, plus there was a dance this Wednesday. I wasn't too thrilled about it either.

"You too," Percy said, "So what's wrong?"

That's all he says? _What's wrong?_ What's wrong with _him?_

"Chiron announced a dance this Wednesday," I said.

"I hope Mr. D put a stop to Jason," he said.

"Don't worry. Argus will keep perfect surveillance on the punch and the giant water jug."

"Giant water jug," he repeated.

"That'll be your job, since you can absorb large amounts of water."

"Okay."

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"N-nothing. Just—ah, never mind I don't even know what I'm saying. What about the dance, though?"

"Chiron isn't too sure about it yet," I started walking towards the Big House since I just now remembered something about helping with the Christmas torches. Percy finally caught up with me.

"The Nine Muses have been invited," I finally said, "Clarisse asked Chris out, Silena and Beckendorf, and Grover automatically asked Juniper as soon as he heard of it."

"Any others?" he asked.

"For reasons I don't know, the Aphrodite girls are keeping their annoying mouths shut ever since the new camper came."

"Whoa—wait, a new camper? Who?"

"He's yet to be unclaimed and his name is Nathan," I said, "He was brought here by one of the satyr keepers."

"No signs of his parent?"

"He has a mysterious personality to him and acts almost exactly like Nico."

"Could be another son of—"

I cut him off, "Look, let's not worry about that. Capture the flag is tonight and I have to worry about making the strategy."

He looked like he was going to drop the subject, thank the gods. Arguing with him is really frustrating.

"Okay, then I'll c'ya maybe at the sword fighting arena or tonight I guess," Percy glumly said while sticking hands in his coat pockets.

I was a hundred yards from the Big House when out of the corner of my eye, he waved good-bye. I didn't look at him but I reluctantly waved back.


	2. Ch2 Capture the Flag

**I removed the part where Nathan is claimed because I wanted to put some background into his character before I could do anything else with him.**

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**December 14**

**Percy's POV**

Capture the Flag planning was a drag. Almost every single plan made by the Athena cabin had been used in the past. Annabeth finally came up with a plan to use secret entrances where you flank out behind enemy lines and surprise them. I was on Athena's team with alliances made with Hephaestus and Apollo while Ares's team had Aphrodite and Hermes.

"You know the rules!" Chiron called, "Creek is the boundary line, Blue Team—Athena, Red Team—Ares! I will serve as a referee and battlefield medic! No maiming and magic items are allowed! Heroes, to your positions!"

I caught up with Annabeth when she was helping the newest camper, Nathan Boone. He's still unclaimed, but she doesn't mind helping an opponent. Though, he had a mysterious impression on his face just like Annabeth told me about.

"I know I shouldn't be helping you," Annabeth told him, "but it's the best I can offer."

She looked up at me as Nathan finally sprinted off to the east side of the forest. I followed her to the opposite side of which Nathan ran.

We stopped at Zeus's Fist as our team of thirteen campers gathered around us. Annabeth brought out a piece of canvas and discussed the positions. I would be cutting through the middle of the two entrances stationed on the north and south sides of the forest. One group would go through the north while the other one was south while some of the rest stood back to guard the flag or just run in and fight. A strategy really worthy of Athena, alright.

Then the conch horn sounded and whoops and yells thundered deep inside the forest.

"Move out!" Beckendorf ordered. Swiftly and silently, the two groups split and went opposite directions while I lead one large group of campers straight. The temperature was so cold that some campers had to have coats under their bronze armor. Luckily for me, I didn't mind the cold even though it was stinging my skin like ice daggers.

I uncapped Riptide as soon as we neared the boundary line. Out of the tree line, Clarisse and her band of warriors charged at full speed towards us. I met her with a staggering blow to the head. She cursed but just kept coming. One of the Hermes kids tried to jab me, but I blocked it and sent his sword skittered back into the water.

The group pressed the other team back into the creek. The water woke up my senses and I almost sliced off Clarisse's leg before she jumped.

**Annabeth's POV**

Sword clattering continued as we plunged into the south postern entrance. Enchanted torches automatically lit up the corridor. Water roared above the cave ceiling and I knew we were right under the boundary line.

"C'mon," I motioned my group, "A few hundred yards until we literally 'capture the flag'."

Silent cheers erupted as I trailed behind to watch the backside of the group. When we finally emerged, we scattered and knocked out the two Aphrodite kids guarding the flag. Malcolm climbed to the top of the mound, grabbed the flag, and jumped off. Beckendorf's group finally met up with us.

"You, you, and you," I pointed to the people in my group, "Go with Beckendorf and rendezvous with the rest. We'll handle the flag."

They saluted and charged west. This was going according to plan. I lead my group towards the southwest with hardly any faults at all. Fighting ravaged on in the distance.

"We're almost there," I panted. Just then, a shadowy figure a little shorter than me leaped out in front of us.

He had black hair that blended with the winter night and his face showed more anger in his face than Michael, one of the most meanest of the Ares boys.

"Run!" I commanded Malcolm. He stormed off the other direction and left me with Clayton, son of Apollo, who drew his bow and notched a bronze-tipped arrow. I drew my knife as the opponent slowly stepped forward, making twigs snap. Then I recognized him as Nathan, the new kid I helped. He certainly took my advice pretty well after all.

I blocked his downward attack and sent a diagonal uppercut with my dagger. He spun around and almost jabbed me if it wasn't for Clayton nailing Nathan with an arrow on his left shoulder. He yelled louder than no other person I've heard before. Nathan stumbled and fell to the ground. The conch horn suddenly sounded as I quickly picked up and Clayton helped me carry him towards the creek.

**Percy's POV**

As soon as Malcolm sprinted across the creek over to our side, the flag changed from blood red to a glittering silver banner with an owl embedded on it. We'd won. Cheers erupted as the Ares team groaned. Chiron bounded towards us with two Aphrodite kids that looked like they were going to fall off Chiron's backside.

"I suppose laurels go to the Athena team, then—" He stopped himself to look at Annabeth and Clayton carrying a kid with untidy black hair and pale face.

Chiron sighed, "Another injured camper. I'll take him to the infirmary."

He set Nathan on his horse back, "As I was saying, laurels will be awarded at the campfire. Carry on."

I hung my head down as the rest of the campers trailed off to whatever activities they were doing before Capture the Flag. Black hair was hanging in my eyes when I was staring at the bunch of twigs on the ground. The ADHD part of me was thinking off task about random facts about the solar system and how sticks and stones relate to cars with unscrewed tires.

I visited the armory to take off my bronze armor and trudged with hands in my pockets to the campfire. Chiron awarded the laurels as soon as he got back from placing Nathan in the infirmary.

"He'll be better within a few hours at the most," he said, "but let us not delay. Jason, you do the honors."

_Oh great,_ I thought, _I hope he didn't spike the chocolate._

He passed around a jumbo-sized bag of marshmallows and pieces of chocolate while another camper handed us graham crackers. Chiron trotted back to the Big House for one last pinochle game with Mr. D. I poked my metal rod back and forth in the flame when Annabeth sat on the step above me.

"You know," she stated, "you're very hard to read."

"Just like Nico?" I asked, resisting the temptation to look at her. I pulled off the marshmallow and stuck the chocolate and crackers on it.

"Can I eat that?" Annabeth abruptly asked.

"No, I'm eating it," I took a bite to prove my point.

She huffed, "I was hungry for another."

"Tough luck then."

She punched me on the shoulder, already frustrated with me. It didn't take her long.

"I thought you said I was hard to read," I reminded her.

"Did I?"

"I don't know. I don't pay attention."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at me, "You never do."

Then the conch horn sounded for bed.

"See you tomorrow, Seaweed Brain," she jumped up and walked off without letting me say anything else. Couldn't she at least call me Prince of the Sea one more time?


	3. Ch3 Swordfighting Practice

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan does. I only own Nathan Boone and some characters.)**

**In this chapter, I'm focusing on Nathan's past memories. Just to give a feel on how he sees the world, his opinions, and everything else in between.**

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**December 14-15**

**Percy's POV**

Walking back to my cabin, I instantly fell asleep and for the first time since the Titan War, a dream appeared. I was standing in the pouring rain outside of the cabin area when a guy younger than me in black robes was running towards me. I could barely hear his words.

"C'mon! It's only a matter of time before he subdues you!" he yelled. A hood covered his face where I couldn't see higher than his lips.

"What's going on?" I yelled, "Who's after me?"

"No time! We must hurry!"

"Are you Nico?"

"A distant cousin maybe—" he looked the other direction, "—RUN!"

I didn't hesitate to run out of the cabin area. Freezing rain was stinging my face in the winter weather. The last thing I remember was charging through the door of the Big House before someone with familiar upturned nose and eyebrows whacked me with a wooden plank.

I woke up shivering from the cold. Moaning and turning over, I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't shake the memory. Who was that guy? Who was after me? I hope this won't turn out as another war. Kronos couldn't possibly reform that quick.

**Nathan's POV**

Opening my eyes, the first thing they settled upon was a small paper cup on the nightstand. I made sure the honey yellow liquid didn't spill by firmly grasping my hand around it. It was somewhere around three and don't ask me how I knew that. I just _knew_, even without a clock sitting beside me.

Propping myself upright in the soft medical bed, I lifted the cup to my lips. For some strange reason, it tasted like hot dogs instead of honey. A warm sensation spread throughout my body and made me feel like I could throw Harley Osbourne, a bully back in Nebraska, a hundred yards across the gym stadium.

Suddenly, a memory flooded into my mind when I mentioned it.

_Flashback._

I was sitting quietly in my history class. The teacher had gone to get copies of notes about the War of 1812 and I was reading from my history book when Harley started throwing paper wads at one of the computer nerds sitting in the back of the room.

"Stop that!" he yelled.

"Make me, you scar face!" Harley backfired, but he could've said worse. I tried to keep my mind focused but since I have ADHD and dyslexia, I had a hard time reading and keeping myself from getting distracted.

Other kids started to hurl themselves into the fight and yelled complaints. When Harley jumped up from his seat and started screaming in one of the girl's faces, I slammed my book closed in frustration and placed fingers to my temples. The screams and fights ravaged on until I couldn't take it anymore. The next action I did was so scary and impulsive; a psychologist could've run out the door, screaming her head off.

I slammed my fists on the desk and screamed, "_SHUT—UP!_"

The room suddenly darkened with my anger and noise finally died down. Everyone stared at me, leaving horrified and awestruck faces. My face must have looked murderous because they slowly took their seats as they were before they started this fight.

I didn't realize it until I looked down at my desk. It had deep cracks embedded in it like an earthquake just made its way through Sacramento. Without warning, the teacher walked in with a packet full of paper and the room lightened back up again.

She gasped, "What have you done?!"

I looked at her, trying to think of what to say next, "I—I..."

"That's it, Mr. Boone! I'm calling the principle!" she stomped over to the phone at her desk and dialed.

"Wait!" I tried to tell her, "I didn't mean it!"

After she was finished talking on the phone, she slammed it back down. At a terrifying moment, she had a wicked grin on her face but it disappeared when she said, "Your father will be coming to picking you up. The principle said you're expelled for the rest of the school year."

I hung my head down in shame and gathered my books. This school was the only one I really liked in Nebraska, but now... I'm expelled.

_End Flashback._

Setting my cup back on the nightstand, I curled into the bed sheets and tried to shake the words: _I'm expelled_. My shoulder started to heal within the cold, long night.

The next morning, I moved back into the Hermes cabin where there was hardly any space to sleep in. Beds in the infirmary were more comfortable than a sleeping bag anyway. At breakfast, Clayton, the guy that struck me with his arrow, apologized and said it was fair play. I agreed, shook hands, and he walked back to his table.

During daytime, I strangely felt weaker than I did at night. I didn't have an answer why and neither did Chiron or the rest of the campers. Though, I didn't have time to ask a few people since it was getting late for sword practice at the arena.

When I arrived, Percy, son of Poseidon, was already training some of the kids from the Hermes cabin. I took my seat in the stands while I watch one guy try to stab Percy but he blocked the guy's sword and sent it skittering across the snow-covered sand.

"Dead," he announced, "Try maintaining distance a bit better. Next!"

Three more people were fought and judged upon until I was next. I walked down and unsheathed the sword from my scabbard, ready to block if he attacked without warning.

"Hey Nathan," Percy greeted, "did you have any training before last night's Capture the Flag?"

"No," I replied, "and I was almost about to maim Annabeth before Clayton fired an arrow at me." I pointed to my left shoulder where the arrow had struck.

He raised his eyebrows, "Quick learner. Well, in a sword fight, the most important thing is to find the flow of the battle and attempt to bend it against the opponents will. Think you can handle that?"

I nodded as he uncapped his ballpoint pen and in half a second, it grew to a three-foot long celestial bronze sword. Percy slowly advanced, not showing any signs of threat yet. I instinctively raised my sword while trying to keep my elbows properly bent.

He made the first attack by sending a horizontal thrust to the left but I easily blocked it and resisted the temptation to become tense. What I'd learned from the last fighters was that their muscles seem to tense up and hard to maneuver their sword.

Being diagnosed was ADHD somehow kept me aware in combat. Normally, I couldn't multitask at all and my thoughts move faster than my brain could think. I went on the offensive and pressed Percy back with more force than I could ever imagine.

"Keep your guard up!" he told me, "The best fighters use a combination of offense and defense! Switching directly—" he blocked one of my uppercuts, "—to one of them can severely limit your ability!"

I did as he told me and let him take a chance at striking me. He approached cautiously with a wild gleam in his eye. Lowering my sword to fake weakness, Percy started a downward cut and at the last second, I twisted my blade around his and sent it airborne, flipping several three-sixties. Luckily, everyone dove out of the way while Percy's sword jammed itself between the limestones of the bleachers.

"Wow," he spoke, dumbfounded, "that was the best sword fighting I've ever experienced."

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**Don't ask me how I knew all this. This thought suddenly came to me and I actually thought I was going to do in _my_ history class what Nathan did. Except there wasn't a fight and people kept rambling on pointless stuff and the teacher with two assistants were there.**


	4. Ch4 Fights

**The idea for this chapter was based off of a movie I saw earlier today that consisted of bullying.

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**

December 15

Percy's POV

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" I asked Nathan. He sheathed his sword and shrugged.

"Beginner's luck, I guess?" he said.

I nodded and went over to where Riptide was lodged in the bleachers. I tried pulling several times and nothing really worked. Some of the Hermes kids starting snickering when my hands slipped on Riptide's leather grip and almost lost my balance on one of the steps.

Nathan came up to me, "Maybe I could get it."

I stepped out of the way when he calmly grasped his hands around my magic sword. The limestone cracked as Nathan pushed the hilt downward. He lodged inward and quickly slipped it out of the cracks.

"I was always good with leverage," Nathan stated, "My dad was an engineer back in Nebraska."

He handed Riptide to me and I pressed the cap to the sword tip, making it shrink to a dark blue ballpoint pen, and stuck it in my back pocket.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Percy," he glumly said, slowly trailing off toward the lake. As for me, I trained with the rest of the Hermes kids until I switched over to rock climbing.

I hooked myself in the climbing equipment until the horn sounded. The walls shook ferociously as I grappled upward, clinging to fragments of rock. Some of them disappeared and reformed on other sides of the wall. When I was close to the top, lava was dumped right next to me, almost singing off my eyebrows. Pulling myself over the top, the horn sounded and the walls suddenly clashed together. Luckily the rest of the campers made it to the top without their feet getting smashed.

**Nathan's POV**

When I reached the lake, I slumped down on the end of the dock and stared at some of the campers that were competing in the canoe races. Just then, something caught my eye below me. A girl, about my age in a lime green tank top and loose blue jeans, was sitting at the bottom of the lake while weaving a whicker basket with threat and cloth.

She looked at me and waved halfheartedly. I was too stunned to wave back. Camp Half-Blood is the weirdest place I've ever been to on the planet. The girl in the lake set her whicker basket down and swam towards me. Her head peeked above the surface.

"Aren't you cold?" I shivered. My ADHD got the best of me.

She slowly shook her head, "No, you?"

I shook my head and stared across the lake, "You're staring at me."

"Who are you?"

I tried resisting the temptation of answering, considering that she might a sexual predator, but her voice was calm enough to talk back to, "Nathan Boone."

Another voice spoke in Ancient Greek behind me. The girl suddenly dipped below the lake and swam off to where I couldn't see her.

"Miranda is very flirty during the winter," the female voice said. I looked back to see Annabeth leaning on the dock railing. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail.

"Like I haven't noticed," I muttered.

"I heard about what happened at the arena," she said.

"I-it's nothing...really. All I did was twist his blade and sent it flying."

I was anxious to drop the subject already when I jumped up and slowly walked off the dock. Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder. I realized she was a few inches taller than me.

"The dance was called off, Nathan," she said, "Jason was caught trying to take down the decorations and started to spread propaganda about me and Percy."

"That'll lighten up my spirit," I sarcastically said. Her hand fell down as I walked off to the cabin area. When I reached it, I saw graffiti on the Apollo cabin saying: "_Kiss me! Kiss me, I'm sunny!_" and more of it was sprayed on the Athena cabin. If Annabeth finds out about that, she'll go nuts and maybe start punching Jason in the face before he has a chance to run to Chiron. Chiron wouldn't believe a word he said anyway.

Just as I was about to turn towards the dinner pavilion, a few Hephaestus kids were carrying a blue fifteen gallon water jug towards the edge of the beach near Long Island Sound. I ignored it and went to the archery field.

I tried several times to get my arrow to shoot at the target but it always missed. Chiron told me to aim on the side of my dominant eye, but neither side worked. Unfortunately for me, an arrow was stuck in an Ares kid's helmet and started chasing me towards the cabin area until he'd cornered me behind the Zeus cabin.

"It was an accident!" I tried to tell him, "I swear!"

"Arrows in people's heads doesn't count as an accident nowadays," he growled. My dad always said to keep control of my temper whenever I'm very impatient or frustrated, but he isn't here right now to help me. The Ares guy approached slowly towards me with a murderous face considering that he had temper problems too.

My courage suddenly regenerated back to me and I raised my fists. I was ready to punch him when I needed to. The sky darkened with my anger.

"_STAY—AWAY—FROM—ME!_" I warned him. I could swear that could travel for miles. Her face changed to surprised and horrified as she backed away.

"You freak..." he said. _That_ ticked me off.

"If you ever...ever call me that _again_..." I balled my fists until they turned white, thinking of a good curse word to say, but the conch horn abruptly sounded for dinner.

"I'll get you next time, punk," then the kid stormed off. My fists and anger loosened as the sky lightened up again.

**Annabeth's POV**

Trudging towards the dinner pavilion, I saw an Ares boy running from the cabin area and not from archery practice. I took my seat at the Athena table while everyone else filed in. Nathan was last to squeeze in on the Hermes table. His face showed that he was absolutely miserable.

Chiron stepped up to the head table and raised his goblet, "To the gods!"

We repeated the blessing. Satyrs and dryads poured in from everywhere with platters of salads and steaks. As for me, I automatically went over to the brazier, scrapped the juiciest part of my steak into the fire, and blessed for Athena.

When I arrived back at my table, Jennifer, one of my friends, said, "Can anybody help me with the Rubik's cube?"

No one else answered but me, "I might. I'm usually good with that stuff."

Michael, son of Ares, scoffed over at his table, "_Usually_. Like that's ever going to happen."

His friends snickered and I scowled at them, "Who do you think you are?"

"Ignore him," Malcolm said, "He's the scourge of the Underworld."

"I thought that di Angelo kid was the scourge," Michael reminded him.

"Well it looks like you have a new title," I cursed at him.

He slammed his fists on the Ares table, "And you need to stop acting like a smart-eleck."

"Michael—," Jennifer tried to say.

"Don't get into this, Jenni!" he growled, "That's it! I'm breaking up with you. I'm sick and tired of you! Even a kid of Athena should be able to solve the Rubik's cube!"

Her eyes started watering. I couldn't believe he had the nerve to say that.

"Lay off her, Michael!" I yelled.

"Maybe I would if you quit annoying people with your lame architectural facts no one wants to hear about!"

"You take that back," I slowly started to get up but Malcolm pulled me back down. Everyone in the pavilion started staring at us.

"Just because she needs help with the Rubik's cube doesn't mean you can make fun of her!" I said.

"She's a daughter of Athena," he assured me, "she should be able to know that by now."

"That's it!" I jumped up and started towards him, balling my fists.

Clarisse got up to stop me, "You don't need to get into this, Wise Girl."

I ignored her even though she tried pushing me back. A helpful friend maybe but I was seriously mad at Michael. What happened next was totally inconsiderate of me.

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**Here's the Lightning Thief cast so far:**

**Percy Jackson - Logan Lerman**

**Annabeth Chase - Alexandra Daddario**

**Grover Underwood - Brandon T. Jackson**

**Poseidon - Kevin McKidd**

**Athena - Melina Kanakaredes**

**Zeus - Sean Bean**

**Chiron - Pierce Brosnan**

**Medusa - Uma Thurman**

**Luke Castellan - Jake Abel**

**Mrs. Dodds - Maria Olsen**

**Procrustes - Tim Aas**

**Smart ass kid who chased Percy and gang into Crusty's Waterbed Palace - Richard Harmon**


	5. Ch5 The Ouija Board

**(Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, but I do own Michael, Jennifer, Clayton, and Nathan.)

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**

December 15

**Annabeth's POV**

I, Annabeth Chase, just punched Michael in the face. And I'll admit that it felt good to hit someone again after that one school Percy had when he was in seventh grade. Michael gaped me while holding his bloody nose.

"My architectural facts aren't annoying!" I told him, "Maybe you just need to use more brains than brawns!"

"Annabeth," Clarisse said, "It's good that you punched him, but it looks like you just used more brawns over brains. All Athena children should know that."

"He was asking for it," I reminded her, storming off to the Athena table. She was absolutely right, but I didn't regret it. Clarisse reluctantly sat back down and ignored the moans from Michael. As for me, I stabbed my fork into the salad and twisted it like I had no care whatsoever.

"I couldn't have done that myself. I would never have the confidence to actually break up with someone," Jennifer eyed me, "Looks like someone beat me to it."

"You're welcome," I muttered.

"Hey, it's not your fault. None of it is."

"You're lucky that the dance is called off. If Chiron reinstates it, then I don't know what would happen," I said, taking a bite of my salad.

"Hakuna matata, I'll—"

I cut her off, "We don't speak Swahili, Jennifer."

"Okay, fine. I'll find someone and get to know him," she said, but that didn't exactly reassure me. Then I just realized all the people in the dinner pavilion were staring at me.

"What?" I asked them. Then they went back to their conversations.

**Percy's POV**

The evening past quickly, even after what Annabeth did to the meanest kid in Camp Half-Blood. Silena Beauregard already started to gossip about it when we'd reached the campfire. She glared at me suspiciously and started a subject that I didn't catch the name for. I only caught the words "sleeping pills". But all conversation stopped when Clayton, one of the Apollo kids, brought out a game board.

"Who wants to play the Ouija board?" he asked. (He pronounced it like _wee-jah._) Everyone gasped.

"What in the world gave you the idea to bring that thing in camp?" Beckendorf asked warily.

"I just thought we should know our futures," Clayton said.

"Chiron says it's not good to know our futures—," I started, but he cut me off.

"Do you want to play or not?"

People looked at me and started shaking their heads saying: _No, don't do it! Even if it's the last thing you do in life!_

"Uh... no thanks," I said.

"Anyone else?"

No one answered. Clayton opened the game box and took out a rectangular board with letters of the English alphabet, numbers zero to nine, and the words _Yes, No, _and _Good Bye_ on it. Two images on the top corners of the Ouija board looked like the sun and the other was a moon crescent with a star.

Clayton chanted in Ancient Greek and hurled the board into the bonfire. The flames suddenly burst into purple colors until an image of the game board appeared. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths.

"Legend says that the Ouija board can read true thoughts, emotions, and even the future," Clayton explained while taking out a wooden planchette, "Apollo created it in China a few years after he was assigned the Oracle of Delphi."

He hurled the planchette towards the enflamed board and as soon as it hit, it was stuck like glue.

"Who's first?" Clayton asked. No one answered. I didn't want that thing to read my mind. Jennifer raised her hand.

"Ask a question and it'll answer," Clayton said.

"Who will be my next friend?" she asked the game.

The flames of the bonfire died down as the planchette started to move on its own. It slowly ended up on the letter _N_ and then moved to _B_.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jennifer asked Clayton.

"They're initials," he said, "Who's next?"

Jennifer muttered something about Clayton being so vague that he's harder to understand than the Oracle.

Jason stood, "Will I succeed with the water jug?"

The planchette moved to the word _Yes_. He smiled and sat back down. I didn't know what he was talking about but I guess it was good.

Nathan darted his head towards several people and swallowed, "Who—who is my mom?"

Everyone waited for the Ouija board to make its move. Suddenly, the flames grew to as tall as a California Redwood, one of the tallest trees in the world. Clayton chanted in Ancient Greek and the board flew back into his hands including the wood planchette. The flames were getting taller by the second. Everyone started to panic.

"Do something, Percy!" Annabeth yelled at me. I tried concentrated on the currents whipping themselves against the shores of Camp Half-Blood, but people were screaming and running all over the place.

Then Nathan let loose a scream that would've traveled for miles, "_SHUT—UP!_"

Everyone suddenly stopped and turned with confused faces towards him. That really shut them up. I concentrated again. This time, a wave roared in my ears, followed by a sharp tug in my guy, and the fire was doused like someone just dumped a hundred gallons of water on it. I was starting feeling like I was going to pass out.

**Annabeth's POV**

What the heck just happened? Before I could say that out loud, Percy doubled over and I ran over to keep him from falling.

"I'm okay..." he faintly said. The conch horn abruptly sounded.

"No you're not," I told him. Nathan walked over to us while the rest of the campers filed out, avoiding contact with him.

"Hey," he said, "Sorry—I, um... didn't except that to happen back there."

"I knew that Ouija board was possessed!" I said, carrying Percy by the shoulder to the cabin area.

"Want me to help?" Nathan asked.

"Sure. Let's get this Seaweed Brain to bed."

Then I could swear that Percy cracked a smile.

* * *

**For some strange reason, my mind cannot process imagery very good at the moment because I had a dream last night and it scared the crap out of me. It was about me dying and being reborn and named "Jeremy Hives" or something and I was living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Then my dream self asked "How do I remember all this?" because all memories of past life started flooding in my mind and that's the part where I abruptly woke up. I'm just having a crappy day today.**


	6. Ch6 Winter Wonderland

**(Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympian series. I only own Nathan, Michael, Clayton, and Jennifer.)**

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**December 15-16**

**Annabeth's POV**

When I'd reached the Athena cabin after helping Percy to his cabin, I opened the door and Silena suddenly flew past me and stomped towards the Aphrodite cabin. I ignored her and saw Malcolm blocking the doorway, watching Silena. Then he finally noticed I was here.

"Oh hey, Annabeth," he greeted, "Silena was arguing with Jennifer."

I sighed and walked in, "What did she do this time?"

"She has been one of millions of needles in a hay stack," Jennifer grimly said. She was sitting up on the top bunk above mine.

Malcolm took a seat at the study desk, "No offense to her, but she's very preposterous these days. More gossipy than ever."

"Say," I said, "you needed help with the Rubik's cube?"

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me!" then Jennifer took out a six by six Rubik's cube. The colors seemed to be scrambled. She handed it to me as I slumped down on my bunk and leaned on my pillow. I've had bad experiences with Rubik's cubes, but as I practiced, I finally became a master at these frustrating little toys. I remember when I when I got my first Rubik's cube and it didn't end very well.

I studied the sides of the cube. After several minutes, I started flipping and rotating the sides faster than a regular mortal expert could. Finally, I made sure the sides were correct: all yellow, blue, orange, green, silver, and red were in their right positions.

"Hey, Jennifer?" I asked.

"Yeah?" she groggily asked. I held up the Rubik's cube to her bunk and heard shuffling among the sheets above me.

"Hey! You fixed it!" she grabbed it from me, "I'm going to totally take your horse flying class tomorrow!"

I chuckled, "Its okay."

"I swear, Annabeth, can't you accept offers for once?"

"Once in every few days."

"Well I'm up for another hour and a half for horses."

"Okay, fine!" she was all into horses anyway so I gave up, "Yes, you can have my horse flying class tomorrow!"

The next sound I heard was breathing coming from the bunk above me. Jennifer was finally asleep along with the rest of the Athena cabin. I dressed into my silver pajamas and curled into the soft covers of my bunk, instantly falling into a dreamless sleep.

**Percy's POV**

My dream started out like this: The same guy from my last dream was pulling me into the forest by the hand, the sleeting rain stinging my skin.

"What's wrong with you?!" I asked.

"He's almost done!" he said.

"With what?"

He stopped to look at me, "The Equestrian Anathema!" then he started hauling me again.

"Equestrian? You mean horse?"

"I bet you don't even know the half of it! No wonder Annabeth calls you a—DUCK!"

Then I saw what was coming at me from below the trees, a black metal cylinder held by ropes.

"I'm not a duck! Wait, what's tha—" before I could say anything else, the bar whacked me in the head. I woke up with a throbbing headache like the bar actually hit me. What is it with dreams and getting whacks to the head? Anyway, my hair was bedridden like a mop just came back from getting blow-dried. The sun was peaking above the horizon and created a pink tint to the winter sky. I honestly think that I should take a picture of it, but I don't have a camera with me.

Pushing the covers off, I groggily got dressed in a blue striped t-shirt and jeans. I tried combing my hair but it wouldn't stay down and already tried dabbing it with water, which really didn't help. Suddenly the conch horn sounded and I left my hair as it is.

When I'd reached the pavilion, I took my seat at the Poseidon table as the rest of the campers did to theirs. Mr. D was already sitting at the head table, looking bored as he always is. Chiron rolled in next to him and tapped his goblet once everyone was in the pavilion.

"As you all know," he said, "the dance was unexpectedly called off due to some... ah misconceptions with the Hermes bunch. _But_ I have renounced my decisions and moved the date to Christmas Eve. Now, about that water jug. That's your job Mr. Jackson. When you were gone, the campers voted if you could um... what do they call it?"

"Chugging," Mr. D said.

My face turned confused, "Um... okay."

"Hakuna matata, Percy!" Jennifer yelled from the Athena cabin. Some of the Apollo kids started snickering.

"We don't speak Swahili, Jennifer!" Malcolm said.

"Well at least you know what it means," she muttered.

Chiron took out a boom box, "Since it's the holidays, I'd thought that you all might like Christmas music while you eat," he raised his goblet, "To the gods!"

We repeated the blessing and he pressed the _Play_ button on the CD player while satyrs came in from all directions with cereal boxes. _Trix, Cocoa Rice Crispies, Lucky Charms, _the works. The air was filled with techno music. I didn't know techno was the new Yule, but then I realized that it was _Winter Wonderland_ just by the rhythm.

I scrapped a few _Fruit Loops_ into the brazier and out came a sea-breeze, so Poseidon must've liked it. Still, I don't know how gods live off of smoke.

Sword practice quickly past by and the same goes for canoeing and arts/crafts. Nothing ever gets boring around here. A few months ago, Clarisse gave up her bullying position to Michael and he's been wreaking havoc more than what Phobos and Deimos had tried to do to me one time. Right now, he'd joined forces with Jason and another Ares kid. Clayton and Jennifer, however, are like anti-Nazi's compared to Jason.

Speaking of Clayton, he tucked away the Ouija board under his bunk and some of the Hermes kids (coughJasoncough) tried sneaking it out to play it one more time. Then Annabeth and Jennifer caught them asking a question that dealt with stuff in the Aphrodite department. Jason started acting like Jason Bourne from the Bourne Conspiracy and the sequels, with tampering with DNA evidence and knocking people out for no reason. Too bad that Michael had to get involved.

I saw Nathan Boone walk out of the Hermes cabin with a ribbon tied to his hair and I immediately knew that he'd been pranked.

He walked up to me and said, "Is there anything in my hair?"

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, "Yeah."

He ripped the ribbon from his hair and then squished it on the ground with his foot, "Next time Jason does that I'm going to kill him."

"How about we do that now?"

"Jennifer promised to meet me at the horse stables so I'll play a prank on them later. I'll ask Travis and Conner."

**Nathan's POV**

My muscles relaxed once Percy walked off towards the archery field. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to take my revenge back on Jason after what he did to my hair. I'm funny that way. Even if I did, then people would suspect I'm a son of Nemesis when I'm not even claimed yet. I kept my head down on the way to the stables and immediately caught sight of Jennifer, daughter of Athena. By her attitude, I always thought she was a daughter of Aphrodite, but she's all into books about horses and those other geeky subjects.

She was already herding one of the white pegasi from a stable when she saw me.

"Hey, Nathan!" she called. I didn't answer back, keeping my hands tucked in the pockets of my black winter coat.

"What did Jason do this time?"

I told her the entire story about Jason taping a ribbon to my hair when I wasn't looking and held up a mirror for me to look. I almost punched him in the face for that.

Jennifer's grey eyes focused on the ground, "You could always ask the Stoll brothers to help you out."

"I'm fine," I glumly said.

She hopped up on her pegasi, "How old are you?"

I lifted my head to see hers, "Turned fourteen last September."

"I'm same age as you. Are you afraid of heights?"

"No, why?"

Then she held out her hand for me but all I did was stare at it. My chest started feeling funny. Relunctantly, I grasped her hand and she helped me up. Jennifer told me to hang on tight. Before I could ask what, the wings of the pegasus expanded as it flew into the air. Without realizing it, I had my hands clinging to Jennifer like it was the last thing I would do it life before I could fall a hundred feet to my death.

Jennifer laughed, "I thought you said you weren't afraid of heights!"

"I guess I lied," I said, too scared to be embarrassed by clinging to a girl I hardly know. Jennifer steered the pegasus towards the Big House and circled the strawberry fields a couple times. My stomach wasn't too happy about it either.

"Get me down from here!" I cried.

"You're almost as bad as Thalia," Jennifer said.

* * *

**I updated this chapter to make it longer. (Duh)**


	7. Ch7 Happy Late April Fool's

**WARNING: This will be the most weirdest chapter in The Equestrian Anathema! And don't get any funny ideas along the way, either. I think you all know what _anathema_ means: a curse or a denouncement. This is the chapter where my mind originally plotted it.

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**

December 16

Nathan's POV

As soon as the pegasus landed on the ground, I immediately slumped off like I'd just been giving a shot that makes my entire body jittery. Jennifer jumped off like she just had a heck of a time up there.

"I never want to do that again," I said, still shaken up from acrophobia.

"You'll get used to it," Jennifer said, "All half-bloods do."

Without warning, the conch horn sounded for dinner. I didn't realize how late it was until now, considering that the sky was bright orange with dark silver-lined clouds dotting in several places. I started walking when Jennifer caught up with me.

"What's your last name again?" she asked. Curiosity can kill a cat.

"Boone," I replied. Then she gasped like she just realized something and then she darted ahead of me without an answer. Chiron, in centaur form, was standing in the middle of the pavilion while campers gathered around him.

He raised his hand for silence, "Tonight, dinner will be held at the campfire for a special occasion," he glanced at Percy whose face turned white as a ghost. Then all the campers started rushing towards the bonfire. Percy and I were the only ones trailing behind.

"Sucks to be you, huh?" I asked him.

"Yep," he said, "and proud of it."

I dropped the subject once we entered the pavilion and split directions. He went to the center where Chiron was standing next to the blue fifteen gallon jug of water with a tube attached at the top of it. As for me, I went over to sit up top of the bleachers where no one else was sitting.

"When your ready, Percy," Chiron said. Then he walked out of the pavilion towards the Big House... probably for another boring game of pinochle. Everyone held their breaths and leaned in while Percy nervously grabbed the tube nervously. I leaned back and set my arms on the step above me. This will be a sight to see, I thought.

Michael muttered to one of his friends about something "wrong" but I ignored him and watched Percy stick the tube in his mouth. His face scrunched together and held thumbs up. Jason, who was standing at the entrance, started pumping the pump (umm?).

I closed my eyes and held my head back against the step, not wanting to see what happens next. It just felt weird to me and don't ask why. Opening my eyes again, I saw the first star that peeked over the midnight-blue sky. Well, it's not exactly a star, it's the planet Venus. The moon was full and lit up the darkness. Over the silence, someone started chanting "CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!" and others came in afterwards.

My eyesight shifted over to Jason who was pumping with one hand. He took out a small vial filled with a red substance and chanted something in Ancient Greek. I leaned in closer to get a better view of what he was doing. And what he was doing was _not_ a good thing at all. Michael pushed through some campers in the bleachers and ran over to Jason. They seemed to be arguing over the vial when Michael dumped the substance over the pump.

Jason stopped pumping, "He's done!"

Cheers erupted and people started to crowd around Percy who succeeded in chugging down fifteen gallons of water. He was truly a son of Poseidon. All I did was sit in the bleachers.

**Percy's POV**

I couldn't even describe what I was going through at the time. After the camp stopped congratulating me, satyrs filed in with plates of barbecue and I could swear that my mouth was already drooling. But for some strange reason, I started to feel a tingly sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Everyone loaded their plates and burnt sacrifices in the bonfire except me. I was miserably sitting in the bleachers and watching everyone else eat my favorite food. After several minutes, my eyesight started to blur. A wave of nausea rolled over me. I immediately stood and walked out of the pavilion.

A few steps before I'd reached my cabin, I looked back at the brightness caused by the bonfire. Suddenly, pain erupted in my stomach and I clutched it. I guess that fifteen gallons really got to me because my mind was rolling like crazy and getting a major headache. Worse than the one I had this morning.

I opened the Poseidon cabin's door. My right hand was clutching my stomach and the other was grasping the doorway. Unfortunately, I tripped on the way in and the pain spread to my neck. Steam sizzled from my hands and up my arms. I could feel my forehead burning up like I'm being deep-fried in a microwave. My legs felt like molten lead.

"Oh gods..." I moaned. I couldn't believe this was happening. Someone must have jinxed that water jug. Then I heard a sickening _CRAACK_ and realized it was my knees.

"AAAAAGH!"

**Nathan's POV**

A bone-rattling scream bellowed from the cabin area and quieted the people around the campfire. I stopped chewing on my s'more.

"What was that?" Jason asked. _You very well know what, idiot_, I thought. I ran down the bleachers and some other kids started to follow. Before I left the pavilion, I turned to look at the people following me.

"I can do this by myself, people," I said.

"Aren't you afraid of monsters?" Michael teased. Kids started snickering.

"Shut up. Have you even seen me in a sword fight before?"

"You probably hit like a girl."

Jason burst out laughing, "Or... too scared to even swing!"

"You don't want to see me in a fight," I warned, walking towards the cabin area.

Michael and Jason followed me while the rest stayed behind to tend the bonfire. I kept my fists balled as the tension inside me grew.

Then I heard Michael whisper to Jason, "Freak show over here is being a—"

I stopped in my tracks, "What did you call me?"

"Oops, I guess I just lost my desert privilege again," Jason said. Suddenly, the screams became louder. I tore across the cabin area as quick as a panther and flew open the door of the Poseidon cabin. What I saw next was so overwhelming that I could've fainted right there. On the floor was Percy's helpless body. Steam was sizzling off his skin. As for his arms, elbows, knees, and legs, well... they were inverted.

I turned to Jason and yelled at his face, "What did you do to him?!"

"Happy late April Fool's!" he laughed. I raised my fist and knocked him cold.

"I'll get you for that, punk!" Michael tried to grab me but I sidestepped and tripped him with my foot. Impulsiveness took me over and I grabbed Michael by the shirt collar, lifting him up to my face.

"_Σκεφτείτε ότι μπορείτε να καλέσετε τα ονόματα μου; Σκέψου ξανά_!" I said and then left Michael there to look inside the Poseidon cabin. Percy was still clutching his stomach but something was totally wrong. His spine was longer and his face looked hurt and deformed. It—it looked like... a _horse_?

* * *

**Translation: **_Think that you can call me names? Think again!_

**Oh no! Percy turned into a horse!**

**HAPPY LATE APRIL FOOL'S! ^_^**


	8. Ch8 Interrogations

**(I don't own PJO.) In the next few chapters, I won't be writing in Percy's POV due to the fact that I can't speak horse.

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**

December 16-17

Nathan's POV

Black fur sprouted from Percy's wrists up to his face. I started thinking that he was turning into a donkey from Pinocchio, but the hair was a lot thicker and the ears were shorter. I stood in horror, and possibly with my mouth hanging half open, of the black stallion laying on the cabin floor in front of me.

Suddenly, Michael tripped me and my head hit the wood of the Poseidon cabin. My vision turned blurry and I must've hit a nerve because my body felt numb and tingly.

"He won't remember what happened," I heard Jason say; "A good whack to the head will cause memory loss. Isn't that great, Michael?"

"Totally!" Michael picked up a cricket bat. He raised it above his head and I found myself muttering a prayer to Zeus knows who.

**Annabeth's POV**

The conch horn sounded for bed and we trailed back to our cabins. It was getting late anyway. Once everyone was in their cabins, I was the last one in the cabin area.

"Where's Percy?" Jennifer asked me. She was walking by me the whole time and I hadn't realized it.

"Oh, um... I saw him walk towards the cabin area a few minutes ago. Why?" I asked. Jennifer stopped in her tracks and gasped. I turned my head to see what was lying on the ground next to the Poseidon cabin: Nathan's unconscious body. Why didn't people notice him before?

She ran up to him and knelt, "What happened to him?"

"I'm not the detective around here," I said, standing over her. The doors of Percy's cabin opened and... a black stallion was standing in the doorway?

Jennifer slowly stood, her face was totally confused, "_Whaaaaat?_"

She stole the words right out of my mouth. Then I caught something very unnatural to horses. His eyes were deep green like the sea. The horse looked down at Nathan's pale body and nuzzled his hair. I stepped back warily.

"C'mon Jennifer," I warned, "He could have rabies for all the gods know."

She backed away and I grabbed her hand, pulling her into the Athena cabin. The last thing I saw was the horse's green eyes. Slamming the door, I turned to the rest of the cabin members.

"What was that?" I irritatingly asked. Everyone started staring me and Jennifer, though I didn't feel uncomfortable.

"Um..." Jennifer started, "A horse?"

"No, it was something different. Something about the eyes."

"I was too busy worrying about Nathan," she hauled herself up to her bunk. I decided to drop the subject and forget about what just happened by getting dressed for bed.

"Someone knocked him out," Jennifer stated, "And I swear I'm going to kill Michael and Jason if they did it."

...

The next morning, Chiron said that Nathan had been placed in the infirmary for head trauma and I've been starting to believe that Michael and Jason _did _knock him out. Though, I wasn't in the mood to argue since I haven't seen Percy all day. I asked a few of the kids around the arts and crafts and they said they haven't seen a single trace DNA evidence of him.

About that horse I'd seen last night, he's been staying in the forest, but whenever I come near, he tries to hide his face behind a tree. He doesn't show any signs of harm or anything. His eyes are really what caught my attention, and it's a surprise to me that Jennifer didn't notice it in the first place.

As for Michael and Jason, they were put on probation by Chiron in case of interrogation. Injuries aren't recommended during interviews, but when some people just don't answer truthfully, we beat the Styx out of them. Speaking of interrogation, I asked Chiron if we could do it to Jason to see if he knows anything about Nathan's head trauma.

"The horse bucked him," he explained. We were sitting at a table in the Big House, "We were able to alert Chiron but the horse disappeared. We haven't seen any signs of Jackson anywhere."

"You're lying," I firmly said. I can always tell when people are lying. It's a gift from Athena, plus Hermes children are prone to tell fibs to make up for thefts.

"If you don't believe me, ask Michael!"

"I already talked to him and he said the same thing. Spit it out or I'll use force."

And basically after that, he started arguing with me and trying to change the subject. Chiron, in wheelchair form, rolled in from the kitchen, "Nathan is up, if you want to see him."

"Thanks Chiron," then I turned to Jason, "We'll talk later."

Once I entered the infirmary, I found Nathan propped up in bed while holding an ice-pack to his head.

"Hey Annabeth," he groggily said.

"How's your head?" I asked, walking over to him.

"I can't remember anything from last night. Chiron said it might be amnesia."

I sighed, "It might be. You got a pretty good bump on the head there."

Nathan touched the bruise on his forehead, but then he winced at it.

"If your memory comes back," I stated, "Notify me."

"Yeah, sure."

I left the Big House and made my way towards the forest after sword practice. As usual, the black stallion was there, still hiding his face behind a tree. Slowly walking up to him, he huffed and turned his face to look at me. The horse trotted close enough to me where I could touch his nose.

Curious, I raised my hand to feel the soft fur, and a shock went through me like I'd just been electrocuted by Thalia. A familiar voice appeared in my mind.

_Annabeth, _it desperately said, _What am I?_

Since no one else was around, I spoke aloud, "A.... horse?"

The stallion's sea-green eyes widened and he stepped back.

"Wait," I told him, "Who are you?"

_I knew that water jug was enchanted! It was Michael and Jason's fault!_

My hand dropped from his face as I stepped back. The voices stopped fuming through my head. I could tell that my face showed confusion. I could tell that was Percy's voice.

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**I know! I know it's a short chapter. But hey, I had a little bit of Writer's Block (GASP!). If anybody cares, send me ideas via review and I'll give you virtual cookies!**


	9. Ch9 The Prophecy

**(I don't own PJO. I only own Nathan, Clayton, Jennifer, Michael, and Jason.) I am aware that this chapter kind of moves at warp speed and I tried to fix it, but it seems better this way. Hope you like it after waiting for so long.

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**

December 16-17

**Nathan's POV**

Being bedridden for the rest of the day, I was trying to remember what happened last night. Chiron brought me dinner instead of nectar and ambrosia. When night came, I immediately fell asleep and a dream suddenly appeared.

I was lying on the sandy beach of Camp Half-Blood, enjoying the midnight sky, feeling stronger than normal. My arms were behind my head and the stars twinkled overhead. The tide whipped against the shore.

After a while, I heard a rustle in the sand behind me and my vision started to blur. Green specks danced across my eyes when I lifted myself up to sitting position. When I turned around, a black silhouette was standing a few feet away from me. Rubbing my eyes, everything suddenly had a green tint to them like I just developed night vision or some eye disorder. The figure had glowing eyes and a dark aura surrounding her.

"Hello, child," the woman sweetly called. She stepped out of the tree line and walked towards me. Her face was partially covered by her long hair that hung below the shoulders, but everything seemed green. She stopped when she was a foot away from me, "I will give you something that is worth remembering forever."

"What?" I croaked. The woman reached out to touch my right shoulder. Her hand was ice cold as if she spent the night in a freezer.

"On Yule's dawn, you won't have to worry."

I woke with a major headache and Chiron timed his entrance perfectly. He was in wheelchair form when he told me that breakfast is ready.

"Are you alright, child?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I replied, "Just a dream."

Chiron looked down as if he pondered this, "After breakfast, the Oracle requires your presence."

My face turned confused but I nodded. Pushing the covers off, I dressed and trailed towards the dinner pavilion to find that Michael and Jason were no where in sight. Good riddance, anyway. They were so mean; I could've punched them myself.

Annabeth had a look of distress while Jennifer was trying to comfort her. I didn't know what happened last night, so it must've been very tragic. And why in Hades am I even acting very sarcastic? If last night was fatal, I would've sulked too and that's nothing to be sarcastic about. It's very sad.... in a way.

Clayton and a few of the Apollo kids were discussing something about men being turned into jackalopes by Lady Artemis and some of the kids around them snickered. The Aphrodite girls were gossiping about a scream they heard last night and they seemed pretty serious about it. As for the Hermes guys around me, they were planning on stealing antiques from the Big House attic and stashing it down in the basement where no one could find them.

"If you ever get a hold of Aphrodite's scarf," one of them said, "Don't look at me, dude. Love magic can make you fall in love with the first person you see."

"What? The thing that Anna brought back from five summers ago?" another asked.

"Yeah. She said that Percy picked it up first and she snatched it away from him."

The entire Hermes cabin burst out laughing except me and the Stoll brothers.

"Do you think that he is actually falling for her?" the daughter of Hermes asked.

"Shut up," Travis Stoll barked, "You're all acting like Aphrodite's kids. Get back to the stealing part. How are we going to get past Argus?"

And basically they went their own ways. I wasn't very fond of stealing. An unclaimed demigod should know that unless they are actually a child of Hermes.

After breakfast, I walked back to the Big House. Out of the corner of my eye, Silena was building a snow girl in the middle of the combat arena until some Ares kid used it as a dummy and slashed his sword through it. Then they had a huge argument. The Ares guy started yelling at her saying that building snowmen are for babies and Silena was trying to tell him that she's never too old for snow. I couldn't blame her. I used to play in the snow when I was twelve.

When I reached the Big House, Chiron was already sitting in front of the fireplace. His million year old face looked sad when he looked up to me and his upturned lips turned into a smile.

"The Oracle is waiting, lad," he said. I sighed and walked up the stairs in the back of the room. After four flights up, a dead-end showed a trapdoor on the ceiling. Pulling on the string, the ladder swooped down without warning and got a good sized knot on the head. Great, I'll have repetitive short-term memory loss after that.

I walked up the stairs, rubbing my bruised head, and it seemed like the air in my lungs suddenly disappeared. Far in the corner, beyond tables of trophies and plaques of beheaded monsters, sat the most gruesome thing I could ever imagine: a mummy.

She was dressed a tie-dye hippie skirt with dozens of bracelets, necklaces, and piercings. Who would want to dress the Oracle of Delphi something like that, I have no idea. Her face was withered to the bone and white bulbs held as her eyes in their sockets. At least there wasn't any blood.

I slowly walked towards the mummy. My knees started to tremble and suddenly, the mummy sat up straight. Green smoke bellowed from her opening mouth. I was just about to run when she spoke in a raspy voice.

_I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask._

"Who is my mom?" I asked nervously. The smoke spread around the room and curled around my ankles. Then a figure started to take form in front of me like an upside-down funnel cloud and took shape as a large horse.

_She rises from the pits when twilight passes, _it said.

_You will conjure the night and rise from the ashes._

_Pride and prejudice will find the cure._

_The equine son will finally be pure._

The smoke retreated into the Oracle's mouth like a slithering snake. When all the smoke was gone, she slumped down like she was going to sit on the wooden stool for another three-thousand years. She didn't tell me one bit of my mother _at all._I had to urge to blurt out a million questions at the same time, but I eventually got a hold of my ADHD and turned around. At least I was going to be successful and without knowing it, I bumped into one of the tables.

A Persian-pink scarf lay on the wooden table with a label attached to it.I decided not to mess with it since that talk at the Hermes table. I didn't want the love goddess's magic tampering with my life. Something made me hesitate, but then I moved on and climbed down the trapdoor again.

Annabeth was on the rustic couch when I walked in the living room. I ignored her and started towards the exit.

Just when I was about to leave she irritatingly asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

I stopped in my tracks and turned around, "Just got my prophecy. Nothing special."

"What did the Oracle say?"

After I was finished telling her the prophecy, she flipped her hair out over her shoulder and started to think for a while. The flames crackled in the fireplace and it was hard to tell by Annabeth's face if she was shocked or just plain confused.

Finally, she spoke, "The first line doesn't make sense, same goes for the second. My fatal flaw is pride, so yours has to be prejudice, and we would turn Percy back into human once we find a cure. I don't even know the cure. We'll have to get Michael and Jason to spit it out."

"And what if they don't?" I asked.

She shrugged like it was no big deal, "Same as usual, we use brute force. Broken teeth might be involved and a few torn tendons."

"You have evil thoughts for a daughter of Athena," I stated.

"Hey, that's how interrogations work these days. You beat the truth out of them."

* * *

**If you can, please send me ideas for the characters to combat in the story. Not to OOC, mushy, or anything in particular. Obstacles, riddles, or anything of that sort is appreciated.**


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